England U18 Women announce 2024 Elite Playing Squad

19 Jan 2024 | 5 min |

England U18 Women announce 2024 Elite Playing Squad

James Cooper has selected his 2024 Elite Player Squad ahead of this year’s U18 Women’s Six Nations Festival.

The 35-strong contingent was chosen after a thorough process of five invitational pathway camps and two rounds of England Rugby Centre of Excellence fixtures to start the 2023/24 season in preparation for the third edition of the continental tournament.

The U18 Women management have organised meetings at Warwick School and the University of Nottingham in order to increase interaction time between the squad this season, which included the annual internal game back in early December.

Nine England Rugby Centre of Excellence sites, as well as a combined 20 colleges, are represented in the 2024 class as head coach Cooper credited the efforts of the pathway system in enabling his selection.

“I’d like to thank the coaches at all of our England Rugby Centre of Excellence sites, as well as the various colleges, for their tireless efforts so far this season,” he said.

“We’re equipped with a fantastic squad due to that work put in by the coaches and players, and are looking forward to putting our plans into place for our upcoming fixtures.

“The determination shown by the girls in recent camps has filled myself and the coaching staff with a lot of confidence heading into 2024. We’re excited for what’s to come.”

As dates and fixtures are currently to be determined for the 2024 U18 Women’s Six Nations meeting, the tournament serves as a crucial development tool for future international rugby in the England pathway looking ahead to a home 2025 Rugby World Cup.

Over the weekend of 13 January, the U18 squad convened on the University of Nottingham pitches for a fixture with Loughborough Students for a positive test up against a physical and organised team, which enabled Cooper’s staff to test out different options in personnel and tactics.

The squad were intentionally notified the day before the meeting (12 January) against Loughborough, as players were tested on their reactions and preparation with a further trip to face Ireland U18 Women scheduled for the weekend of 2 March (venue and kick-off time TBC).

A meeting at Wellington College (15-17 February) precedes the trip over the Irish Sea, and England U18 Women assistant coach Olivia Perry expects the same intense output shown by the team in the first half of the campaign.

Perry said: “This is my third year of involvement with the U18 age-grade at England Rugby, and I believe we possess some of the most talented players to come through the pathway in recent years – it's a real pleasure to work with these girls.

“Me, James and the team would like to congratulate the group on their efforts, representing England at any level is an achievement to be proud of and we’re positive that this collective can have a real impact on the 2023/24 season.

“They have grafted hard to be in the position they are in now, but we require more of the same heading into our meeting with Ireland as well as what we are all looking forward to, the U18 Six Nations Festival.”